As computers have become indispensable in our day-to-day activities, the advantages of storing information electronically have steadily increased. One of the primary advantages of electronically stored information is its inherent versatility. For example, editing and exchanging electronic information is greatly simplified as compared to editing and exchanging documents stored in paper form only. Furthermore, any advantage attributable to having a physical document is retained in electronic storage because a “hard copy” of an electronic document may be readily produced from the electronic version.
Another significant advantage of electronically stored documents is that of providing enhanced access to information. Over the past few years, the improved access offered by electronic documents has become so important that many organizations expend substantial resources in scanning paper documents to store them electronically.
Routine facsimile transmission further exemplifies the value of electronic access to documents. Arguably, it is access to information that fuels what many refer to as the Information Age.
Today, perhaps the most prominent example of access to electronically stored information is the Internet. Literally millions of people depend on the Internet for email, banking, investing, shopping, news, entertainment, and social interaction. Not too many years ago, sharing information over the Internet was principally the domain of academicians and scientists. For members of the general public, the technical nature of Internet access tools and the prohibitive computer hardware requirements meant virtual anonymity for the Internet. However, the advent of hypertext navigation and the World Wide Web (“Web”), in conjunction with modestly priced and increasingly powerful personal computers, has propelled the Internet to the forefront of public attention and has made the Internet an indispensable source of information.
Unfortunately, providing electronic access to documents is not always a straightforward process. Governmental regulations, increased security concerns and customer preferences, to name a few, play a major role in determining what documents may be disseminated electronically.
Thus, there remains a need for a system and method of providing electronic access to one or more documents capable of determining which documents are eligible for electronic access and providing such documents in a manner consistent with the individual preferences of the consumer.